Can multi-disciplinary simulation-based training improve patient safety?

It has long been recognised that the emergency department (ED) carries a high risk of adverse events due to its extensive usage by patients with varying acuity levels of injury and/or illness, frequent interruptions of staff during the delivery of care, the need to administer treatments often with limited information about patients’ clinical histories, and the involvement of multi-disciplinary teams comprising a variety of healthcare professions.

The goal of this research was to reduce the number of patient safety events (PSEs) in the ED of one of the busiest paediatric hospitals in the USA. The study had two specific aims: to implement multi-disciplinary simulation-based training to enhance team working; and to evaluate the effectiveness of this training.

In order to achieve this, the researchers applied the principles of crew resource management (CRM) to a simulation-based training intervention to increase participants’ awareness and knowledge of patient safety. The intervention was actually developed through an analysis of various documented PSEs that had occurred in the ED during the five years prior to the research being undertaken.